Modern chronic disease is not an accident but the outcome of how we grow, process, and distribute food. Colin Austin argues that humans evolved to eat diverse, nutrient-rich foods grown in living soil, not extreme diets dominated by sugar, fat, and chemicals. He outlines why the health crisis is not a technical problem, how Gbiota beds can grow nutrient-dense food efficiently, and why the real solution lies in reconnecting growers and communities through local cooperation.
The Essence
The food we eat determines our health. To understand what food truly makes us healthy, we must use science and epidemiology, but we must also consider evolution. Humans evolved as omnivores, eating a wide range of foods. Extreme diets, whether vegan or carnivore, are not part of our evolutionary history, and there is insufficient long-term evidence to show they are healthy.
For hundreds of thousands of years, most humans prospered on varied diets. Only in rare cases did people eat extreme diets, usually due to environmental constraints. Today, however, our modern food system has pushed us into a new extreme: a diet high in sugar and fat, heavily promoted by multinational corporations that spend billions convincing us these foods are healthy.
Sugars and fats are not inherently bad. They are our primary sources of energy. The problem is imbalance. Modern diets often lack essential trace minerals and complex phytonutrients that are critical for health.
Gut Biology and Plant Nutrition
Another major problem is exposure to toxic chemicals that damage our gut biota. Gut microbes are a critical part of our internal control system, helping regulate appetite and support immune function. When this system is damaged, appetite control breaks down and disease risk increases.
The encouraging news is that we now have the knowledge and technology to grow plants that supply the minerals, phytonutrients, and biological quality our bodies need. These nutrients come largely from plants grown in biologically active soil.
What Are Gbiota Beds?
Gbiota beds are a growing system where mineral-enriched compost tea delivers nutrients directly to plant roots using a flood-and-drain cycle. This system supplies both nutrients and beneficial biology, producing highly nutritious plants.
Baby greens grown in Gbiota beds can be harvested regularly, providing a continuous supply of healthy vegetables at a reasonable production cost. They are not as cheap as chemically produced farm-gate food, but they are vastly superior in nutrient quality.
This highlights a major flaw in the modern food system: growers receive only a small fraction of the retail price. Marketing and distribution costs can exceed 80% of what consumers pay. Direct purchasing from growers allows people to access healthy food while giving growers a fair return.
Balance, Not Another Extreme
Colin is clear that people should not live on vegetables alone. That would be just as extreme as the current high sugar and fat diet. Attempting to live mainly on baby greens would lead to serious digestive problems and malnutrition.
The goal is balance: a diet that includes a wide range of foods, supported by vegetables and greens that genuinely contribute to health rather than simply filling space on a plate.
A Practical Proposal
Colin proposes a volunteer-driven system where people concerned about the health crisis work together to create access to healthy food at a reasonable price. The key is forming local buying groups that act like cooperatives.
These groups commit to buying directly from growers who are willing to adopt regenerative, biological growing systems. This approach breaks a fundamental catch-22: growers will not invest in biological systems without a secure market, and individual buyers lack the influence to persuade growers to change.
The Chronic Health Crisis
We are all aware of the chronic health crisis caused by food high in sugar and fat and low in trace minerals and phytonutrients. This has been discussed endlessly in books, media, and online.
What is rarely discussed is how to fix it. Colin argues that the solution may be simpler than we think. The technology already exists. What is missing is coordinated action.
Not a Technical Problem
This is not a technical problem. Colin and many other researchers have spent years developing systems that grow food capable of supporting human health. He has invested significant time and money experimenting with growing systems and has a long history of successful innovation.
He states without hesitation that the Gbiota bed is the innovation he is most proud of. It works. It produces food rich in nutrients and biology using largely waste inputs such as organic residues and mineral dust. It is productive, water-efficient, and capable of automation.
There are still improvements to make, including harvesting efficiency and testing additional plant species, but the system already works. The real challenge is scale: getting this food to the millions, and eventually billions, of people who need it.
The Reality of Money
Colin acknowledges economic reality. Chemical industrial agriculture is, in the short term, the cheapest way to produce food. He has worked hard to make Gbiota systems competitive, and while they come close, chemical systems remain cheaper at the farm gate.
However, this comparison ignores hidden costs. Chemical agriculture causes widespread illness and long-term soil damage, yet these costs are treated as externalities. If the food industry had to pay for hospital amputations and soil destruction, food economics would look very different.
Globally, every thirty seconds someone loses a limb to diabetes. These are not abstract numbers. This is why action matters.
The Distribution Problem
The real opportunity lies not just in farming, but in distribution. Farmers typically receive only 15–20% of the retail price. The remaining cost is tied up in transport, storage, marketing, and retail.
By shortening the distance between grower and eater, healthy food can become affordable without forcing growers to operate at a loss.
Advertising and Sugar
Large corporations use massive advertising budgets to promote unhealthy food as healthy. Sugar itself is not the enemy; it is fuel. But excess fuel does not improve performance. Eating more sugar does not make the body work better.
Hidden sugars now appear in foods where we would never expect them, from breakfast cereals to bread. The last thing we need is more sugar disguised as health food.
The Internet Changes What Is Possible
While the internet has many problems, it also gives power back to people. Colin believes this power can be used to create alternative food systems that serve health rather than profit.
The challenge is not missing technology, but missing coordination.
What Already Exists
The Gbiota system already works. It grows food in biologically rich soil, is productive and efficient, and is available to anyone who wants to use it. Many home growers already use it successfully.
To make a real impact, small commercial growers must also be involved.
A Global Problem, A Local Solution
Chemical agriculture is global, and its damage is often worst in poorer regions such as India and Africa. Any solution must be global in principle but local in action.
Many growers want to change but cannot risk their livelihoods without guaranteed demand. Likewise, millions of individuals want better food but cannot change the system alone.
Forming Local Groups
The solution is local organisation. People who understand the problem must form local groups committed to buying healthy food. These groups may form through friendships, health networks, gyms, or local food communities.
Once demand is organised, growers can confidently invest in biological systems. Colin provides technical support through his existing resources.
Transport and Food Hubs
The final step is logistics. Ideally, food is collected from farms and delivered the same day. Where that is not possible, food hubs allow centralised pickup.
Why This Matters
Many people are content with supermarket food. Others are not. For those who care about health, the environment, and fairness, an alternative system is necessary.
Colin’s motivation is personal and global. His wife reversed diabetes through dietary change, but millions of others are still at risk. The current system enriches a few while damaging public health and destroying soil.
Conclusion
“New Food” is a call to rebuild health by rebuilding food systems. The technology exists. The knowledge exists. What is required now is community action: people organising locally to support growers and reclaim food that truly supports human health.
